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Monday, May 17, 2010

Today's interview is with Clay Jones (his blog is right here), assistant professor at the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program at Biola University, teaching courses in Theodicy & the Issue of Evil, apologetics research and writing, and defending the resurrection. But the area of focus he is known for is the topic of evil and suffering. In this interview he talks about the issue of evil, his recommended resources for learning about the issue of evil, the judgment of the Canaanites, and more.

Giveaway for FREE Apologetics Products
The Graduate Program in Christian Apologetics is giving away two Clay Jones "Why God Allows Evil" lecture CDs to two people. To be entered in this contest, leave a comment on this post. Each person will only be counted once, even if multiple comments are left. Giveaway ends on May 21 at 11:59 pm PST. Winners will be chosen at random using random.org and notified by email.

Biola’s apologetics program will honor such rates until the end of May for all readers and friends of Apologetics 315. If you want to receive the 10% discount off of anything in the apologetics product catalog that is not clickable above, please order by phone (562-906-4570) or email.

Sweet interview. I'm still learning a lot on theodicy and the problem of evil in the world. i've been listening and reading a lot on it and establishing my own answers as well (learning to think for myself lol) but good stuff for sure!

i appreciate you for giving all these sources and all the book reviews and such. be blessed!

You may remember me messaging you a little while back about a debate at my school. The debate itself went quite well, there was some interesting arguments that were brought up by the guys on the other side that I literally had never heard of before.

However I think we were able to deal with those objections pretty effectively, but it was this; the problem of evil and suffering that really posed a problem, especially in the discussion time afterwards. It is then that I saw how much emotion often trumps reason for many people. So many times they said, "OK fine, so there's no NECESSARY logical contradiction. But I'm sorry, I just can't believe that a God exists and that he doesn't do anything to stop it when he sees all this suffering."

This interview was immensely helpful, Brian, and will be of use to me in the future conversations I have with my friends on this subject.

This problem of evil was the main objection that kept coming back in the discussion time

For those who aren't lucky enough to 'win' the drawing for Clay's CDs about the problem of evil, I would really highly recommend getting ahold of them, as he really presents some helpful material on the subject.

I would also like to reccommend a site that I just recently found which contains text and audio resources dealing with Theology, Archeology, Biology and Astrophysics. The site feels a bit dated to be sure, but from what I can gather so far, the content is excellent.

Can someone help me understand what Clay Jones meant when he was talking about C.S. Lewis and theistic evolution and it being outdated. What was he specifically talking about? I'm just curious as to what Clay Jones was alluding to.

Brian, thanks for all the audio, book reviews, resources, and everything else. The other day I listened to Scott Smith. Thanks.

Was there a first human pair (Adam & Eve) who so grievously sinned against God when tested that all of the rest of us are being punished for it (including animals), even though no one but the first human pair deserved to be punished? If it's argued that all of us deserve to be punished because we all would have sinned, then the test was a sham. For only if some of us would not have sinned can the test be considered a fair one. But if some of us would not have sinned under the same initial conditions then there are people who are being punished for something they never would have done.

For John Loftus: you need to accept the fact that Genesis describes Adam and Eve as those of "federal headship," meaning their created bent toward sin is universal. The test is for one man and woman, all others who are exactly the same. You are making a huge assumption that someone else "might not sin" but Romans says "all have sinned." Its a clear declaration that the test only needs to be performed once. That's like saying if a cell splits, maybe there's a future cell that may not split, when a scientist has established that the cell'a DNA requires that all will split. I'm not saying God determined or required that all men will sin, but nonetheless the Bible says all men will indeed sin, hence only one need for the test. We can of course, claim that there may not be a sinner, and the burden of proof would be on you.Christians trust the Creator when he says in effect, "all *will* sin." Again, we have no rational reason to assume otherwise, good works notwithstanding.